The sounding of the end of shift siren at the Holden plant at Elizabeth on Friday, October 20, 2017 means the closure of the factory, and the end, for the foreseeable future, of car manufacturing in this country. Holden has been making cars on the site since 1960, with the company the last to shut its Australian car making operations. In the second month of its launch the car has clocked sales of just under 3000 units, which is pretty respectable. The bright spots in the overall employment picture are the expansion of production at niche automakers like the electric-car company Tesla, and by foreign car companies including BMW, which is adding jobs at its sole United States plant, in South Carolina. There is of course some variation by country and segment; for instance, fleet sales are less expensive than retail.